California’s ‘No Robo Bosses Act’ moves forward; Here’s what it brings

With the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace, a bill is advancing through the California legislature to quell fears that the technology could change for the worse in terms of hiring, promotions, punishment, firings, and the like.

Specifically, the ‘No Robo Bosses Act,’ or Senate Bill 7, submitted by state Senator Jerry McNerney, is trying to impose human decision-making over particular workplace automation technology, and it has just passed the state Senate in a 27-10 vote this month, per a report by Tech Xplore on June 17.

As McNerney explained the reasoning behind suggesting the bill:

“When it comes to people’s lives and their careers, you don’t want these automated decision-making systems to operate without any oversight.”

If adopted, the SB7, which will head to the state Assembly’s Labor and Employment Committee on June 25, would prevent employers from basing their decisions around promotion, disciplining, or firing the employees “primarily” on automated decision-making software.

Instead, any automated decision would need to pass through detailed reviews by a person who will investigate and “compile corroborating or supporting information for the decision.” Also, it would prohibit the use of software claiming to predict workers’ behavior, beliefs, intentions, personality, emotional states, and so on.

For instance, one AI company from the bill’s analysis for the state Senate Judiciary Committee, advertises its product as being able to analyze employees’ emails for “signs of dissatisfaction or burnout,” as well as to “pinpoint disgruntled workers and possible security risks.”

Opposition to ‘No Robo Bosses Act’

The opposition, led by the California Chamber of Commerce, and including the California Retailers Association, the California Grocers Association, and TechNet, which represents Apple, Cisco, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Tesla, HP, Salesforce, Waymo, and Uber, argues that the bill is “onerous and impractical.”

As it happens, the coalition has pointed out that any mistakes would “lead to costly litigation for even the smallest of employers,” and that the bill doesn’t consider the benefits of automated decision-making, criticizing the total ban on behavior-predicting software as it cited the risk of fraud and other crimes.

Meanwhile, Chipotle last year introduced a hiring AI assistant ‘Ava Cado,’ and it’s already producing tangible results, having shortened the average amount of time for a candidate to complete their application, nearly doubled Chipotle’s applicant flow, and increased candidate application rate.